DMDK treasurer Premalatha Vijayakant on Saturday told her party’s senior office-bearers that the DMDK would contest alone in all 234 Assembly constituencies, if the party is not treated with respect by the AIADMK.
She held consultative meetings with office-bearers in charge of the party’s zonal, district and Assembly constituencies, and deliberated over whether the DMDK should continue its alliance with the AIADMK for the upcoming election.
The meeting was held days after party treasurer Ms. Premalatha criticised the AIADMK for delaying seat-sharing talks and demanded 41 seats from the alliance partner in the Assembly election.
“Party founder Vijayakant will announce the decision on alliance soon. Premalatha Madam said if the DMDK is not respected [by the AIADMK], we should be prepared to contest in all the 234 constituencies alone,” said a senior leader.
A sizeable number of the party’s office-bearers reportedly expressed their unwillingness to work with the PMK. “Some office-bearers told her we should not be in the same alliance as PMK as they do not follow alliance dharma and work for the victory of alliance candidates. She assured us that these things would be taken into account when the final decision is taken,” he said.
Just before the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the DMDK leadership had demanded that the party be allotted the same number of seats as the PMK in the NDA alliance.
